The Delhi High Court on Wednesday prohibited the home décor and furnishing company Spread Home from using specific registered trademarks of the luxury apparel brand Louis Vuitton (LV) on products like bed sheets, quilts, and pillow covers, among others.
The bench of Justice Mini Pushkarna issued an interim injunction against Spread Home, observing that Louis Vuitton had established a prima facie case warranting interim relief.
"Counsel appearing for plaintiff (Louis Vuitton) has shown flower in monograms are registered in favour of plaintiff ... and documents showing use of infringing mark by defendant is registered. In the above circumstances the plaintiff has demonstrated a prima facie case for injunction," the Court said.
The dispute revolved around the monogram flower marks owned by Louis Vuitton (LV) for over four decades. LV alleged that Spread Home, branding itself as Spread Spain, was unlawfully using these marks on its products and profiting from infringing LV's registered trademarks. LV argued that the monogram flower marks are integral to its product range and that Spread Home’s actions could mislead consumers.
Spread Home, a home décor and furnishing company established in 1999, offers a variety of products, including bedding, bath accessories, and décor items like bed linens, quilts, pillows, bath mats, towels, furniture, and storage organizers, sold both online and offline.
In response to LV's trademark infringement claims, Spread Home contended that while products featuring the flower marks may have been available in the past, the company had ceased selling them. The company’s counsel emphasized that Spread Home, with 25 years in the market, was not a "fly-by-night" operator.
However, LV's legal team countered this claim by stating they had purchased infringing products from Spread Home on eight occasions within the past month. Taking this into account, the Court restrained Spread Home from further selling products bearing LV's monogram flower marks.
"In the above circumstances, the plaintiffs have demonstrated a prima facie case for grant of injunction and, in case, no ex parte ad interim injunction is granted, the plaintiffs will suffer an irreparable loss. Further, balance of convenience also lies in favour of the plaintiffs, and against the defendants," the Court added.
The Court further directed Spread Home to submit a statement of accounts detailing the sales of goods featuring the disputed designs since their introduction, to determine potential damages payable to Louis Vuitton (LV).
The case has been scheduled for its next hearing in April 2025.
Over the past two years, the Delhi High Court has actively issued orders to curb the sale of counterfeit LV products. In 2023, the Court ordered two individuals to pay ₹9.59 lakh to LV for selling counterfeit items.
LV was represented in the current case by Advocates Pravin Anand, Dhruv Anand, Udita Patro, Nimrat Singh, and Dhananjay Khanna from the law firm Anand & Anand.
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